Contest Director's Report

The weather only partially co-operated. Friday afternoon was suitable for arrivals, despite a couple of showers. Saturday started foggy, with the visibility gradually increasing but the clouds did not finally lift sufficiently for contest flying to start until nearly 15.30. In the following three hours we completed 6 Intermediate, 6 Sports and 2 Club flights. 

The consensus from the locals was that Sunday would be CAVOK. So it proved. Between 10.30 and 12.30, we completed another 5 Intermediate, 6 Sports and 2 Club flights. The unlucky pilot was Nick Riddin whose oil cooler had started leaking during his flight on Saturday, preventing him from taking any further part in the contest; he had been the overnight Intermediate leader. 

The second Unknowns were completed between 13.45 and 15.30 with 5 Intermediate and 6 Sports flights. 

The Club contest was between two pilots flying the same Decathlon from Leicester. Sebastian Pierson flew slightly better in both flights, finishing on 72%, with Sean Link on 69.6%. Both were very creditable performances and we will hope to see them again soon, maybe at Sports level? 

The McLean Trophy for Sports pilots was so closely contested that, after the first two flights, there were only 2.5 points in 1,845 between the leaders. The bronze medal went to Thiery Schmidt de la Brelie on 71.1%, the silver to James Seward on 77.6% with Charlie Coode having pulled out all the stops in the final sequence to pull clear on 79.5% to win the gold and the trophy. It is notable that three of the six competitors were in Pitts S2A’s with the same aircraft G-BTTR placing 1st and 3rd , with a Pitts S2E in 2nd. 

The Fenland Trophy for Intermediate pilots was also very closely contested with the medalists all covered by 1% at the end. As mentioned earlier, Nick Riddin was unlucky and had to withdraw. A different kind of bad luck affected Blair Keen; one of the few puffy clouds that drifted into the box on Sunday morning obscured the judges’ view of several figures in his second flight, precipitating a number of hard zeros. He retained his sense of humour, regarding the weekend as “a learning experience”. The bronze was won by Andy McKee in his Twister on 64.79%, the silver by Michael Engstler on 64.81% but the gold and the Fenland Trophy by Jez Burgoin on 65.76%, flying a Pitts S2A, which proves you don’t have to be flying a modern monoplane to win!

My thanks go firstly to Fenland Aero Club for allowing us to use their beautiful grass airfield and, particularly, to Simon Cooke who was in the tower all weekend, extended his hours on Saturday so that we could finish the first sequence, was encouraging throughout and presented the medals and the trophies. From British Aerobatics, my thanks go to Brian Gleave as Chief Judge, Tom Cassells and Brian McCartney who completed the judging line-up, their assistants, David Heard, Melanie Astles, Eric Marsh, Ruth Scott, Diva Vadibeler and Ian Staines, to Steve Green for driving over on Saturday to help with the scoring system and to Anne, my wife, for working as scorer (and provider of homemade cakes and biscuits).

Martin Sandford

21st May, 2024